Thread: help with razor I am ordering

West Coast Shaving is in Chino Hills. About a 90 minute drive but they sell professionally honed straights (and lots of other goodies).

Any of those last ones would be good. They're all honed by the same person - Lynn, and both sites should provide you with excellent service.
The difference between 5/8 and 6/8 is that 6/8 is a bit larger razor - 1/8" wider and heavier. There is no way to know which one you would prefer, so may as well just pick one at random. I personally prefer 6/8.

Definitely get a strop with your razor - those would be quality strops, not like the junk in your original post.

I would start with a 5/8, smaller is better when firts learning. Second, I would recommend Straight Razor Designs as the vendor. It will be 100% shave ready and they are great to deal with.

All you really need is a strop, razor, brush and a good soap.

The top link is IMO the best option. I have a strop as well as that very same razor and they are great for beginners as well for experienced.

Cool thank you all. I do not get the strop options which is a good choice for my first?

Iz858 I am in San Diego as well. Let me know if you need anything else. I am certainly no expert but I can get you going in the right direction for stropping and angle/lather issues. All pretty easy stuff but I wish I had someone to show me. As well... I can give you a razor to practice stropping with.

I'm still an amateur when it comes to this but I can't recommend straight razor design services enough. They are super helpful, Lynn is a master at honing (plus a free second honing), and if you need more than just a razor they have great sets that come with everything you need to get set up. I went with the Ralf Aust 5/8 (the dovos were out at the time) and upgraded to the 3 inch strop. I am super pleased with them. But again I'm still a bit green so you may take my advice with a grain of salt as they say. Good luck and enjoy the ride.

For a strop get the latigo leather - it's the cheapest and works well. Down the road you may decide to try different leather, but leave that for later after you have some experience and may be able to tell the differences.

Thank you guys so much. I am most likely going to order the top one. 5/8 with the strop. New where can I read or see videos to learn to use it? Any where on the site, I'm nervous and excited. Suggestions on what to use on my face? Any stores locally that carry the products?

Originally Posted by zugbug

I'm still an amateur when it comes to this but I can't recommend straight razor design services enough. They are super helpful, Lynn is a master at honing (plus a free second honing), and if you need more than just a razor they have great sets that come with everything you need to get set up. I went with the Ralf Aust 5/8 (the dovos were out at the time) and upgraded to the 3 inch strop. I am super pleased with them. But again I'm still a bit green so you may take my advice with a grain of salt as they say. Good luck and enjoy the ride.

This is the set up I recently recommended to a friend. Dovo makes an OK razor; Ralf Aust makes what might be the best production razor out there. 3" strop is always easier to use because there is less of a need to get the X stroke technique down. You can learn that if/when you feel like it. And yes...SRD is the premier vendor with whom to deal. Great outfit.

Originally Posted by Phoenix51

This is the set up I recently recommended to a friend. Dovo makes an OK razor; Ralf Aust makes what might be the best production razor out there. 3" strop is always easier to use because there is less of a need to get the X stroke technique down. You can learn that if/when you feel like it. And yes...SRD is the premier vendor with whom to deal. Great outfit.

+1 to Ralf Aust recommendation and SRD. I got the RA from them and they've been a great vendor and the razor has been awesome. Being new to straight razor shaving, it was a great introduction and made the transition easier knowing that it was my technique and not equipment failures.